Close call

As I stated in a previous blog, I am visiting my parents in Florida. What I did not state was that they live in a place called The Villages. It is a community of 55+, active adults. Most things can be accessed by golf carts and they have every imaginable activity to fill one's days. My parents love it here; I am getting bored. The one activity that I can do with two small children is go to the family pool which is about 1.5 miles away. I have met several families with children close to my children's ages which has been nice.

The other day I was talking to another mother whose children were close in age to MM. Her son was working on swimming under water and her daughter was still in water wings. During the course of our conversation, MM and her daughter were swimming near each other and playing well together. The other woman's daughter then decided to remove her water-wings because she was staying close to us on the steps. All was going well until she slipped off the final step; however, neither of us noticed her going under. I saw her but did not see her. I do not know what made me ask my daughter if she was ok (she was floating in her full body swimmy), but when I did, the other mother noticed her daughter.

The girl had inhaled some water, but not a lot. Her mom held her almost upside down and pounded on her back and the little girl immediately began to cry. She was bright red while she was crying, but then became quite pale. The other mother is a nurse so she knew immediately what to do; thankfully because no one else at the pool seemed to notice anything was wrong. MM was upset because the other mom had bumped into her while trying to get to her daughter so I had an upset daughter while trying to be helpful. Needless to say, everyone was upset and we all decided to call it a day.

I went to the pool today and the little girl and her brother were there with their grandparents. I spoke to the grandparents about the aftermath and agreed that it would have been so easy for the little girl to have been under longer. I was just very happy that not only was she ok, but she wanted to go back to the pool and was happy to play again with MM. I did not ask, but I had a feeling that her mother would have liked to super glue the swimmies onto her arms.

I will say this experience has really made me want to bubble wrap my children! I am very nervous about having all the responsibility for the safety of my children. What if I am distracted and my daughter goes under as well? What if the baby's floaty flips over and I am unable to save him? Where is that line of being careful but not so careful that you stifle? I do not remember having all these types of fears about the world around me until I had children. I am not as adventurous as I once was because I am now more worried. Perhaps I have found the secret of the perceived maturity of others: have children and become more cautious!